Czech culture minister tells China it is damaging bilateral ties

Czech Culture Minister Lubomír Zaorálek has brought out into the open a
deepening feud between the mayor of Prague and Beijing, which has resulted
in the cancellation of several cultural events involving Prague ensembles
in China. In the sharpest rebuke yet, Minister Zaorálek told the Chinese
ambassador there would be no cultural exchange if Beijing
continued with this practice.

Lubomír Zaorálek, photo: ČTK/Michal Kamaryt
The Prague leadership is a big thorn in the side of the Chinese
authorities. Not only is Mayor Zděnek Hřib from the Pirate Party a vocal
advocate of Taiwan and Tibet, he is also seeking to revise the so-called
“sister-city” agreement with Beijing and remove any mention of the
Czech capital’s recognition of the “One China” policy.

In what is widely seen as a punitive action, Beijing has cancelled or
indefinitely postponed cultural events by leading Prague ensembles in
China, among them a series of concerts by the Prague Philharmonic, the
Prague Quartet and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The newly-appointed head of the art portfolio Lubomír Zaorálek, who
previously served as foreign minister, on Monday slammed this policy as
totally unacceptable, saying bilateral cooperation could only be based on
mutual respect, and noting that China’s words did not match its actions.
The minister said he was horrified by the lengths to which China was
willing to go to enforce its political views.

“I told the ambassador that, the way things are going, I soon expect
to
hear that the works of Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák will be
banned in China because the composers resided for too long in
Prague.”

Minister Zaorálek said much had been done in the past years to develop
Czech-Chinese relations in all areas, including culture. The most recent
developments damaged and undermined those efforts, Zaorálek said, adding
that he was ready to talk about cooperation as soon as China desisted with
this damaging policy.

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, photo: Filip Jandourek / Czech Radio
Ambassador Zhang Jianmin denied political connotations, arguing that Prague
Radio Symphony Orchestra had itself requested a postponement of the
original term in October when it was due to give a concert tour in China,
because a later arrangement would present the opportunity to visit more
cities.

“That’s nonsense. We planned the tour, but it was impossible to
realize
it because we did not get the necessary permits from the Chinese
side.”

Pianist Ivan Klánský from Guarneri Trio Prague, another ensemble whose
tour of China was unexpectedly scrapped, told Czech Television he has no
doubts it was because Prague is featured in the ensemble’s name. He says
the artists are taking it in their stride “We are not about to
rename
ourselves in order to play in China, life goes on and we’ll find
appreciative audiences elsewhere”.